Are The Ice Castles in New Hampshire Worth Visiting?
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I’ve been exploring the White Mountains of New Hampshire for 5 years. I’ve been in the winter, fall, and summer. But, I’d never been to the famous Ice Castles until this year. There are so many things to do in the area, and I’d never really felt a need to go. However, yesterday we were in the area and we decided to just go for it after a late lunch in North Woodstock at the Pemi Public House. It was just around the corner, and we had my 4-year-old niece with us who we figured would love it. So, we booked the tickets and headed over.
What Are The Ice Castles?
The Ice Castles is a winter experience to check out in North Woodstock, New Hampshire. The ice castle is manmade using icicles that are grown by the company who builds it (we were able to see how they grow them when we took the horsedrawn carriage ride during our visit). In addition to the castle, you’ll find ice slides, caverns and walkways, crawl tunnels, snow tubing, horsedrawn rides, and a forest walk with light displays. It is a great place for winter fun and photos.
The Ice Castles is located one mile from downtown North Woodstock. This makes them very convenient to get to if you’re staying in North Woodstock or Lincoln, New Hamphire. Additionally, this means that there’s food and other things to do nearby. While the Ice Castles have food and drinks available, I’d highly recommend grabbing food in either Lincoln or North Woodstock. Everything at the Ice Castles is overpriced and you’ll find better food at an actual restaurant.
Our Experience
We went in March on a day that was fairly warm. The warmth was part of the reason why I wanted to go that day. I don’t like being cold, and it’s not often that it’s above freezing during the winter in the White Mountains. I did still bundle up in ski pants, a jacket, a hat, and gloves. While it was fairly warm, we were still surrounded by ice so it was still chilly. Plus, we got there for 5pm so while it was light out when we went, we also were there when the sun went down.
While I appreciated the warmth, it did mean that there was some melting going on. There were some puddles as we made our way around the castle and the warmth really affected the tubing. Many people were getting stuck before reaching the bottom while tubing because it just wasn’t slick enough. I heard one of the workers mention that the tubing wasn’t fast/efficient because of the warm weather.
We didn’t initially get any add-ons when we purchased our tickets online. Since we were going during a peak hour (aka at night), the tickets were already kind of expensive. However, when we got there, we did end up buying tickets for the horsedrawn sleigh ride. My brother thought his daughter would like it so that was why we ended up buying the tickets. I’m personally against horsedrawn rides, but I didn’t want to have my niece miss out.
We started with wandering through the ice castle. There was a slide right at the beginning and my niece and brother went down it. The slide was actually made from ice, which was pretty cool. When you think about how all of the different elements of the castle are manmade, including the slides, it is honestly really impressive.
There were a lot of different caves that you could go through. I was surprised to find some of the caves had ice carvings inside. I liked the dragon and dragon eye in one of the first caves we found. Other caves were more just passages to walk through to get to other parts of the castle.
My niece took the lead and us adults just followed. I think my favorite part of visiting the castles was seeing the wonder and enjoyment she was getting from it. I’m not sure that I would have enjoyed it as much if we didn’t have my niece with us. She loved exploring the “Elsa Castle” (she LOVES Frozen).
Then we headed over to the section where there was tubing. The tubing was included with our regular tickets. I’ve never tubed anywhere before, so this was a completely new experience for me. As I mentioned earlier, the conditions weren’t great due to the high temperatures. I did still make it to the bottom though, although I was going backwards. My niece absolutely loved the tubing and she was giggling all the way down. She didn’t make it to the bottom when she went down and the workers grabbed her and pulled her to the end in the tube.
Then, we went and did the horsedrawn sleigh ride, which was right next to the tubing area. We were able to get tickets at a booth where the line formed. Thankfully, there was no line.
We loaded up into the front of the wagon. By the time we did this, it was starting to get dark, so the light up display through the woods looked great. The theme was “enchanted forest” but the coachman joked that he thinks it is Dunkin themed because a lot of the lights were Dunkin colors. I couldn’t unsee it after that LOL. Fitting for New England though.
In addition to the displays, we got to see how the icicles are made. They have a set up to have water drip and turn into icicles. The coachman said that they need specific temperatures to get the perfect icicles. I think he said the sweet spot was around 13-16 degrees or something (don’t quote me on that, I didn’t write down the actual temperatures he said). But, I did like learning a part of their process!
When we finished the ride, it was dark. With the darkness, we could see all of the fun lights in the castle itself, so we took another walk through. Once again, my niece led the way.
Then, my brother insisted he needed hot cider. He said it was because he was thirsty, but I think he just wanted the apple cider. He got my niece a fruit punch. When he asked her if it was good, she gave a prompt “no.” We laughed, thinking she was just being sassy. But, my brother drank it and he also said it wasn’t good. I didn’t taste it for myself, so I cannot confirm if it really was gross, but my brother has stuck by his assessment. I don’t remember his assessment of the cider other than it was so hot that he made me hold it because it was burning his hands.
Then we decided to make our way to the Mystic Forest Light Walk. On the way there, my niece got sidetracked by some crawl tunnels. I did not participate in those because I am claustrophobic. Years ago, I did some of the narrow caves at the Lost River Gorge (which is also in North Woodstock, NH) and I had a panic attack about having to go through a small opening to get out of the cave. My boyfriend had to go first to prove to me that we could in fact fit through the hole. So, my brother and boyfriend, the two bigger adults of our group, went through the crawl tunnels with her at the Ice Castles.
When we finally got her to away from the tunnels, we made our way into the Mystic Forest Light Walk. I think this was my personal favorite. There were cool light displays in addition to some awesome ice sculptures. The path was a one-way path with plenty to see along the way. This was personally my favorite part of the ice castles.
After this, we called it a night. While we went at a peak time (nighttime), it wasn’t as packed as I had imagined. I’ve heard many people say that it’s usually so packed that you can’t take pictures without having to wait in lines to get photos at the spot you want. This was definitely not our experience, but I think it might be because we went so late in the season. I actually think we accidentally went on their last day of the season. Either way, I was thankful to be spared from large crowds.
Are The Ice Castles Worth Going To?
If you’re an adult without children (like me), I’d say that the ice castles are worth doing at least once. I’m glad I can now say that I’ve done them. The castle was honestly really impressive and cool to see in person. But, I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to go again. It’s a cool spot for some fun and unique winter photos.
While it was a cool experience, I would have preferred exploring the trails or historic sites in the area. There’s seriously no shortage of things to do within a 15-minute radius because Franconia Notch is right there as well as the White Mountain National Forest. I did do some hiking at Flume Gorge before we went to the Ice Castles.
If you have children, I’d say that this spot is definitely worth going to. There are a lot of kid-friendly things to do like the slides, horsedrawn ride, light displays, and tubing. And, it’s really special watching children explore the ice castle. To them, it really feels magical. I think going with my niece was what made this experience so special for me. I loved following her as she excitedly explored the castle and seeing the wonder in her eyes. I’d go again for her or my nephew, but I definitely wouldn’t go again for myself lol.
